Durst was the subject of a 2015 HBO documentary series called "The Jinx," in which he said he "killed them all" into a hot mic. The real estate tycoon was previously acquitted of murder in 2003.
More than 20 years after a woman named Susan Berman was found murdered in Beverly Hills, Robert Durst, quirky heir to a real estate fortune, is on trial in Los Angeles for her killing.
Durst wore a face shield as he took the stand and denied he murdered his best friend. The frail multi-millionaire had trouble hearing at the trial and had to read questions off a tablet.
It’s not the 78-year-old tycoon’s first murder trial, but this one comes after he muttered he “killed them all” while mic’d for the 2015 HBO documentary TV series “The Jinx,” which is about Durst's life.
In 2003, Durst was acquitted of murdering his neighbor in Galveston, Texas, even after admitting he dismembered the body. Durst claimed self defense.
Durst is also a suspect in the 1984 disappearance of his wife, Kathie, whose body has never been found. Durst has never been charged in her disappearance and has denied having anything to do with it.
Prosecutors say Durst killed Berman to stop her from cooperating with police investigating Kathie’s presumed slaying.
“Justice would be conviction,” Ellen Strauss, who was a friend of Kathie’s, told Inside Edition. “The conviction is important to us as friends and family.”
Durst, who is said to be worth $100 million, was born into a wealthy real estate dynasty. The Durst Organization even owns a chunk of One World Trade Center. But the accused murderer is a pariah in his own family.
His younger brother, Douglas, testified against him at the trial.
When asked by a prosecutor if Robert indicated how he feels about Douglas to this day, Douglas said yes, that Robert would “like to murder me.”
If convicted, Durst faces life in prison.
